Director's note
of the era
General Rovan opens the study door while the Squire remains at his shoulder. Outside, Dragon-Crest soldiers stand beneath watchful guards, their magical purpose still concealed and unresolved.
General Rovan
Mirel, enter freely. The king has reason to value a skilled hand, and I will keep the corridor clear while you speak.
Mirel steps inside, small and sturdy beneath travel-worn gear. His greeting is met with warmth and genuine interest before Rovan and the Squire withdraw a respectful distance.
Mirel
King Hammon, I ask a private word. My name among my own people is Chobobo, and those people are not far from St. Agusts.
Mirel
Foul tribes are migrating closer, bringing danger and strife. I have kept one secret through it all: I was the first creator of firearms.
Mirel
Your honorable troops may use them. I will craft many, teach your forge their making and use, and help defend both Castle High Wind and the Chobobo.
Beyond the closed door, a Dragon-Crest soldier shifts as ward-light briefly glimmers across his armor. Inside, Mirel waits in silence, his offer resting between them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose the Dragon-Crest soldiers' true purpose
“I shake his hand firm and warm and accept. I ask that he treats my hold as his own and i share my excitement to find out more about these odd firearms and the one mirel carries at his waist”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -3)
King Hammon
I accept, Mirel. Treat Castle High Wind as your own hold, and show me what these odd firearms can do, especially the one at your waist.
Hammon clasps Mirel’s hand firmly and warmly. At the contact, the ward-light in the doorframe flares, cracking one old seal and spending a prepared charge with a sharp chime.
Mirel
Then Chobobo has a home here, King Hammon. I will serve your walls as I serve my own people, and I will teach your smiths carefully.
Mirel draws the compact weapon from his belt, keeping its muzzle angled safely toward the stone floor. Its dark frame is fitted with a short iron tube and a worked firing lock.
Mirel
This is a hand-cannon, though my finer pieces are steadier. Powder drives a metal ball through the tube, faster than any bowstring can cast.
Mirel
He accepts quickly, but the king will demand discipline before wonder. That is the right kind of ruler for this craft.
Beyond the door, a Dragon-Crest soldier turns toward the spent ward-chime. Mirel notices, then closes his hand around the weapon without hiding it, awaiting Hammon’s next instruction.
“I say, you must show me an example of it outside, it sounds like it can knock an ogre failing and hurling over”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
King Hammon
Show me outside. I want an example of its strength, and whether it could knock an ogre down.
Mirel leads Hammon into the outer yard, where General Rovan, the Squire, and the Dragon-Crest soldiers turn toward the demonstration. A thick standing stone serves as the target.
Mirel
Stand behind the marked line, my king. The report will be fierce, but the aim is simple.
Mirel measures powder, seats a metal ball, and braces the hand-cannon. Smoke curls from its lock as he fires; the crack rolls across Castle High Wind like a snapped thunderclap.
The ball strikes the stone with a hard burst, carving a pale crater and pitching the heavy marker onto its side. Dust washes over the yard.
Mirel
Against an ogre, it may stagger or drop him if the shot finds a sound place. It is no promise against armor, bone, or poor distance.
The recoil bruises Mirel’s shoulder through his travel coat, and one precious powder charge is spent. Rovan studies the fallen stone while every corridor guard now knows the weapon’s voice.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish a disciplined firearms program for the castle
“We are lucky you have came to our hold and i cant say ive seen a healthier head of curly hair like yours running around here. Youre a intresting man and we would be honored to have you here and aid your honorable soundling like people with our honor as duty in return for doubling our strength with these firearms”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
King Hammon
We are fortunate you came to our hold, Mirel. I have rarely seen a healthier head of curly hair, and you are an interesting man.
King Hammon
We would be honored to house you and aid your honorable Chobobo people, as duty and honor require, in return for doubling our strength with these firearms.
Mirel’s expression brightens despite the lingering powder smoke. He lowers the hand-cannon fully and bows, accepting the welcome as both shelter and solemn alliance.
Mirel
Then I accept your honor, King Hammon. Chobobo will remember Castle High Wind as a true ally, and I will make your strength worthy of the trust.
General Rovan
A mutual defense pact, witnessed in the yard. I will reserve a secure workshop, assign trusted smiths, and keep the weapon’s teaching under your authority.
The Squire studies the scarred standing stone, then Mirel’s compact weapon. Around the yard, guards exchange guarded looks as the castle’s military future abruptly widens.
The Squire
High Hoof respects strength joined to duty. If these weapons are taught with discipline, your alliance may trouble every enemy that tests these walls.
“These weapons are very powerful, a large one could drop a dangerous giant dire animal if aimed right or cold stop a giant even. There will be a strong doctrine of use and honor code where only the most devote and clean of morals are allowed daily access to them and the basic troops are only passed out safe kept firearms when war or quest calls. We will avoid something ugly happening at all cost”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +2)
King Hammon
These weapons are powerful enough to drop a dangerous giant beast, or even stop a giant if aimed well. We must prevent misuse at all cost.
King Hammon
Only the most devoted soldiers of clean morals will have daily access. Basic troops receive secured weapons only when war or a quest calls for them.
The yard grows still. Mirel lowers his gaze to the hand-cannon, while General Rovan studies the fallen stone as though it were already a law tablet.
Mirel
A doctrine of restraint, then. I will teach storage, inspection, safe handling, and judgment before I teach speed or strength.
General Rovan
I will record the honor code and place the armory under sealed custody. Daily bearers will be chosen, tested, and answerable to the crown.
The Squire
High Hoof approves. Power kept behind discipline protects an alliance; power placed in careless hands endangers every hold.
Rovan calls for the manifest clerk, and the first firearm doctrine is written into Castle High Wind’s law: restricted access, guarded storage, moral fitness, and use only in lawful defense.
“I call for all of our unbusy scientist, casters, ranged, forge, sage and tinkers to meet and greet mirel when he's most willing”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
Hammon’s summons travels through Castle High Wind, calling every unbusy sage, caster, ranged specialist, smith, tinkerer, and scholar to the outer yard.
Within the hour, the gathering forms around the scarred standing stone. Robed casters, ink-stained sages, bow hands, forge workers, and curious tinkerers arrive under guard.
General Rovan
They have come, my king. The armory remains secured, and each specialist has been counted before entering the yard.
Mirel
A generous welcome, King Hammon. These are the hands and minds who will decide whether Chobobo’s craft becomes a shield or a danger.
Mirel places the hand-cannon on a padded table rather than displaying it aloft. The smiths study its fittings while the casters examine the spent powder charge.
the senior sage
We will begin with principles, materials, and lawful purpose. No eager hand receives a weapon merely because it can be taught to use one.
the forge master
Show us the parts, Mirel. If our forges can reproduce them safely, your alliance will gain more than a single remarkable weapon.